People who 'can't fit into jeans they wore aged 21' risk developing diabetes

[cinematicdiversions]

People risk developing type 2 diabetes if they can no longer fit into the jeans they were wearing when they were 21, according to one of the world’s leading experts on the disease.

And if people discovered they could no longer fit into the same-sized trousers then they were “carrying too much fat”, Prof Roy Taylor, from Newcastle University, said.

The participants, who had type 2 diabetes despite having a “normal” body mass index (BMI), managed to cut the levels of fat in the liver and pancreas, and the activity of the insulin-producing cells in the pancreas was deemed to be restored.

Taylor, the principle investigator, said: “Doctors tend to assume that type 2 diabetes has a different cause in those who are not overweight. What we’ve shown is that if those of normal weight lose 10 to 15% of their weight, they have a very good chance of getting rid of their diabetes.”

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2021/sep/27/people-who-cant-fit-into-jeans-they-wore-aged-21-risk-developing-diabetes


This is excellent news that people with Type 2 diabetes can reverse the disease even if normal weight by losing an additional 10 to 15%. Plus of course, it helps with everything else, from cancer to heart disease to joint health.

A Type 2 Diagnosis is much worse for you than AIDS nowadays, as the Lancent pointed out a few years ago. But it doesn't have to be slow decline to the loss of limbs, blindness, then death.

[brewens]

1. I'm wearing a belt I had 42 years ago in high school. I just got down to that size.

I don't have any jeans from that far back, but do from the early 90's. I was pretty slimmed down then too. I picked the right time to lose a bunch of weight.

[cinematicdiversions]

3. I am in the same boat. Lost a ton of weight since Feb of this

year. About twenty pounds away from my high school weight.

[multigraincracker]

16. Weigh the same as I did when I graduated from high school

53 years ago. However I have a very different shape to my body now.

[meadowlander]

2. Fortunately I put on all my weight in my teens

so I'm probably only a size or two up from where I was at 21.

Literally every single other person in my family besides me has diabetes no matter what they weigh so I'm not holding my breath I'll be spared. I'll just be happy to stave it off until my 70s.

[Otto_Harper]

4. I can still wear the jeans I wore when I was 21

One pair per leg.

[Luciferous]

34. 😂

[njhoneybadger]

5. I can fit in them but the waist is four inches lower.

[Demovictory9]

14. lol

[bluewater]

50. +1000 lol

[CrackityJones75]

6. Having been diagnosed for 18 years

Having been diagnosed for 18 years as type 2 diabetic I can say this is the dumbest fucking article I have ever read regarding diabetes. I have read a lot of stuff but this one is just tops for simplistic bullshit.

[Ms. Toad]

9. Agreed - its nonsense.

My spouse who weighs around 115 at 5'2 has diabetes that is worse than mine - her A1C is regularly over 7.0 (on the maximum dosage of metformin). She lost about 20 lbs right after diagnosis and has maintained that loss. My mother who has lost 25% of her body weight since diagnosis has an even higher A1C on the same dose. Her father was skinny as a rail had diabetes (as does every descendant my age or older - regardless of weight).

My weight fluctuates a lot - and is way too high at the moment (I'm formally obese on the BMI scale), but my A1C (on the lowest does of metformin) is regularly 6.3 or below.

The advice in the article is based on nonsense that blames diabetes (both cause and inability to treat) on fat people's supposed inability to control what they eat. That way the big national groups (and doctors) don't have to accept any responsibilty for the challenges of managing the disease.

[Sibelius Fan]

7. Not to brag, but I can still fit into the socks I wore in high school,

and I’m 67.

[lindysalsagal]

54. What a braggy-bragger you are!

I love droll.

[Spider Jerusalem]

8. I can't fit into the same size trousers I wore at 21 because I was probably underweight back then

I was around 135/140 lbs at 6'0" and am now around 165 or so (35 pounds lighter and four inches taller than average among men my age, according to this).

[herding cats]

10. When I was 21 I weighed 100-103 pounds.

I wore special extra slim jeans for juniors in a size 00. I'm 120 lbs now and wear a size 3. I was too thin then, and I've learned to be healthier now. My A1C is excellent.

Headlines like these are dangerous. I understand a lot of folks get bigger, I did, too. It's just not always an unhealthy thing.

Also, my husband just hit the threshold for type 2 by the barest margin. He's obese but has lost 23 lbs by eliminating his refined sugars and exercising since his diagnosis. The doctor says by his 3 month check he expects he'll be below the threshold again. He will not be close to the jean size he wore at 21.

Everyone is still individual and a different medical case.

[multigraincracker]

17. Everyone is different, true.

But, I think everyone, large, small, old, young could benefit from the recommended diet for diabetics. Refined carbs are killing us.

[qazplm135]

11. This is nonsensical

I was 135 lbs at age 21 and 5-11.
I'm supposed to be 135 lbs at age 51?

That's a pretty impossible standard.

[multigraincracker]

18. When I was 18 I was 6'3' and 198 lbs.

By the time I was 25 I was 250 lbs. Now at 71, I''m back to 198. 3 months ago, due to covid I was up to 221 and now back to 198. It does require some work.

[qazplm135]

33. My point is everyone is different

6-3 and 198 isn't underweight.

5-11 and 135 is.

[ProfessorGAC]

53. Agreed

I got married at 23. I weighed 138# and had a 29" waist, maybe 30 depending on brand of pants
42 years later I'm a 32 or 33 and weigh 165#.
At my physical last year I had an A1C check because both of my parents & both of my grandmothers had diabetes.
My A1C was 1.5.
I've gained 27 pounds in 42 years and am not diabetic, but I have no shot of wearing the size pants I used to.
Could I be in better shape? Yes.
Are there some pounds I could shed? Yes, again.
But, this makes me such an outlier to this conclusion, it calls into doubt the whole premise.

[RobinA]

55. I Was

110 at 5'7" when I was 21. It was totally normal for me, but I looked too damn thin. I'm now 63 and I could stand to lose a few, but no way do I want to weigh 110 at this age. Skinny older women look awful in my opinion. I'd have to starve to get back into my size 3 jeans.

[renate]

12. Oh, bullshit

It would be WEIRD for a person to maintain their 21-year-old weight.

Even my super-skinny mom couldn’t fit into clothes she wore at 21 and she absolutely needs to gain weight.

[Hekate]

13. Uhhh, no. At 21 I was working my way thru college on a very tight budget. My ribs showed.

These one-size-fits-all statements are dumb.

[LeftInTX]

15. I weighed 100 pounds when I was 21

I had three kids since then and never lost the flab. I now weigh 110 pounds.

I'll be 65 in a month. I'm not at risk for diabetes. I have flab, but no signs of diabetes.

[multigraincracker]

19. No one in my family has or had diabetes.

I think diabetes is like diarrhea, it runs in your genes.

[634-5789]

20. I was 21... 49 years ago. Meh.

[hlthe2b]

21. A really simplistic standard. In my teens, anorexia/bulimia among teen girls was epidemic.

And given the rapid emergence of celebrity culture driving impossible standards that fully extended into my 20s.

So all those women who finally got to a normal weight in their 30s are projected in this ridiculously simplistic metric?

There are some similar issues for men.

Simply saying gaining weight that puts one's BMI into the overweight or obese range in the decades from young adult to middle age increases risk for type II diabetes is accurate, understandable, and appropriate messaging. No cutesy attempts to compare one's jean size during a time when many are unhealthy to begin with.
https://www.bmi-calculator.net/

[alphafemale]

22. They would be 3 or 4 sizes too big.

Birth control hormones, at least in the mid eighties did not agree with my body.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

23. What did participants do to lose eight, how quickly did they lose it, how long have they kept it

off, will they have to make more changes to keep it off (and if they do, do they know that), and how do we know the changing number on the scale is what made the difference, and not the changed behavior of participants?

[Ilsa]

24. My hips didn't finish developing until I was closer to

26. The spread from left pelvic bone to right wasn't done at 21. Weight change by only a few pounds; was still skinny, but hips changed and I looked less like a boy from behind.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

25. Great example of how medical science ignores huge swaths of the population in favor of white men.

All sorts of crazy shit happens to a body in pregnancy, childbirth and menopause.

[oregonjen]

44. This!!!

[uponit7771]

45. ****THIS !!!! ☝🏾☝🏾☝🏾**** I was no doubt shorter at 21 vs 29 !!

[Johnny2X2X]

26. Lots of anecdotes

A reminder, 43% of the adult US population is obese and 74% are overweight. Weight is a huge health issue and the country is suffering.

[ananda]

27. Oh please. Can anyone past a certain age fit into jeans they wore at 21?

I know I couldn't, and I'm not even close to getting
diabetes.

[Johnny2X2X]

28. Lots of anecdotes

A reminder, 43% of the adult US population is obese and 74% are overweight. Weight is a huge health issue and the country is suffering.

[Klaralven]

29. During WW II, Type 2 diabetes disappeared in London

England does not produce enough food to feed itself, and shipping was restricted by U-boat warfare. Imports of sugar from the Caribbean were scarce.

Strict rationing was in force.

[MineralMan]

30. That's probably an overstatement.

In reality, few people can fit into the clothing they wore at 21 as they age. I certainly can't, but I'm not obese at all.

This is sort of an alarmist statement.

[radical noodle]

31. This is unrealistic for many women

whose shape changes after childbirth. I weigh a little less than I did in high school but my hips and waist have spread out a bit through the decades that followed.

[Zeitghost]

32. The headline is a bit excessive

But the core message, that those with diabetes need to lose weight, even if not obese, is spot on. Even carrying around an extra 20-25 lbs is extremely unhealthy. It's a message many (most?) don't want to hear, as evidenced by many responses here, but it's the truth.

Anybody that has type 2 diabetes should look into Dr. Jason Fung and his work on fasting.

[Mossfern]

35. About 5 years ago I was at my high school weight

My husband, my friends and even my doctor told me to put on a few pounds because I looked emaciated.
It does depend on where you carry your weight as well. Mine is in my legs and rear end - at my HS weight, one could count my ribs all the way up to and including my sternum - my face was practically skeletal.

I'm a bit heavier but healthier looking now.
My blood tests confirm that I'm healthy.

[ismnotwasm]

36. This is NOT sustainable

The participants, who had an average BMI of 24.5, followed a weight-loss programme that included a low-calorie liquid diet for two weeks – where each day they were consuming only 800 calories a day through soups and shakes.

It’s well documented that weight loss can reduce risk of diabetes though. This hyperbolic crap is annoying

[inwiththenew]

37. Too many people in this thread are caught up in their own personal reason why this doesn't apply to

them. Look, you know what the thrust of this thing is about. People are carrying too much extra weight. Now you could not fit in your 21 year old jeans and still be healthy for various reasons but in general people are carrying around way too much extra weight. It's not healthy and it leads to all sorts of problems later in life if not dealt with.

[Happy Hoosier]

39. Please look at the actual research

And understand what the actual mechanisms of chronic disease are. Fat is not the primary cause of them. Rather the problems thatr cause them also tend to make us fat. We need to treat the right disease, which in this case is insulin resistance.

[Happy Hoosier]

38. Horse shit.

More bad science.

There is LOTS and LOTS of work on this in the 10-15 years.

Insulin resistance causes diabetes, not fat.

Being insulin resistant also means you are more likely to gain weight, because insulin resistant people have hyperinsulinemia, and insulin is the hormone that signals the body to store excess calories as fat.

This doc needs to read the actual endocrinological work being done.

[GumboYaYa]

40. Not visceral fat, but ectopic liver fat is highly correlated with insulin resistance

Skinny people can have fatty liver disease.

[Happy Hoosier]

42. And what causes fatty liver?

Insulin resistance. And lots of fructose.

They are correlated, but the fat itself is NOT the cause. It is a co-symptom in many cases (but not all).

When the body is insulin resistant, the pancreas has to produce more and more insulin to control blood glucose levels. Insulin is also the fat storage hormone. So the body is converting glucose to triglycerides, and even the liver is storing fat.

You are correct that skinny people can have fatty liver. That is because they are insulin resistant.

It is also possible for a fat person to be metabolically healthy.... with normal insulin and blood glucose levels. Acording to Robert Lustig, a UCSF professor who has done a tone of research here, about 20% of "obese" people are metabolically healthy. And about 30% of "normal weight" people are not.

In any case, it's important we pursue root causes and not try to treat disease by trying to treat correlated symptoms.

We've been trying to treat T2 diabetes for DECADES by getting people to lose weight, but that's the wrong end of the stick. What WORKS in reversing T2D is severe carbohydrate restriction... either through a very low carb diet, or a very low calorie diet (either just a straight-up diet, or with bariatric surgery... which has its own risks). Both can reverse T2D, but the VLC diet is much easier to maintain than severe caloric restriction without surgery.

In the last year, I've lowered my A1C from 10.6 to 4.8 with a VLC diet. It also happened to result in 136 lbs of weight loss so far. Because what it was treating (elevated insulin) was also keeping me heavy.

[Mosby]

47. +1

[GumboYaYa]

49. I agree 100%.

Last edited Thu Sep 30, 2021, 08:34 PM - Edit history (1)

Bob Lustig is a personal friend and scientific advisor to me. I am reading his book Metabolical right now. He goes much deeper on this subject in his book.

[Happy Hoosier]

51. That's awesome!

I'm quite impressed by his work. I've read his book and watched a ton of his lectures. If you see him, tell he probably saved my life and improved it's quality.

I also really like Phinney's work.

It's really changed my life!

[GumboYaYa]

52. Bob and I diverge a bit in our thinking

I get the impact of fructose, but I also think any overabundance of sugars regardless of type can lead to mitochondrial dysfunction, oxidative stress and all the bad stuff that happens because of that. I put a bit more emphasis on exercise in my perspective than Bob does, but we are in vehement agreement that we need processed food out of our diets.

The mini med school lecture where he goes through the chemistry of sugar synthesis is fantastic.

I will pass your message on to him.

[bullwinkle428]

41. That literally describes 99.9% of the entire population. I'm naturally tall

and lean, so I was skinny as a rail in high school and college, and I believe I wore a 29" waist at that time. Got into adulthood, and eventually began gaining weight before realizing I needed to get a bit more serious about taking care of myself.

Spent more time at the gym, and have been a cyclist for several years now. I probably look better physique-wise at age 57 than I ever have in my life. I even managed to achieve some abdominal definition! I weigh around 152 lbs. at a hair over 6 feet tall, and I still have to wear a 31" waist when I purchase jeans.

[Tree Lady]

43. I was 105 then no way! 😛

I am on a sugar detox now my doctor asked me to blood sugar getting higher and blood pressure.

[Mosby]

46. That's just stupid

I can't wear the same watch I owned in my 20s. It's not because I got fat.

[greenjar_01]

48. 32 x 32 21 to Infinity